After reading the comments, I would like to first thank my brothers for their concern and opinions on my resignation. I will not answer them one by one here. This is a decision I made after careful consideration. However, I still thank my brothers for their support and concern.
Secondly, book friends may be uncomfortable with Model's recent counterattack, because everyone knows that he is a defensive master, so they think he will not attack. But in fact... the descriptions of Model in this book are all true.
He used this tactic in the Moscow Defense War to alleviate the crisis of Army Group Center being surrounded or even completely collapsed.
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Model then implemented this strategic plan in two parts.
Part of it was aimed at the nine Soviet divisions that broke into the German defense lines.
These nine divisions may not be the main targets of the German army, but they are a serious concern for the German army and the basis for the success of the entire plan.
"They are the main force of the two armies of the Russian army!" Model said: "There is no doubt about this, so it is not as easy as we imagined to eliminate these nine divisions. At the same time, they are very smart, and their
The target of the attack is Sychevka. As you know, this town is the transfer station of our railway line. If it falls into the hands of the Russians, there is no doubt that... our entire army group's transportation line will be cut off by them!"
The transportation line of the German 9th Army is different from the transportation line of the 4th Army to the north. They go from Vyazma to Sychovka and then to Rzhev, and then transported to various units by road by car.
It is conceivable that if Sychevka is occupied by the Russian army, all plans will be aborted.
"But, General!" Colonel Krebs said worriedly: "What should we do to stop them, or surround them!"
Colonel Krebs is right.
It was difficult for the German army to deal with these nine divisions that broke into the defense line.
The reason is that they can change the target of attack at any time. For example, it is Szechovka now. But if the German army is stationed in Szechovka, the Soviet army can continue to go south to attack another location. In principle, as long as it is the main railway road, it can be cut off.
The supply line of the German 9th Army.
Therefore, if we want to stop these nine divisions, we must surround them.
Model seemed to have the answer already. He replied without thinking: "The 46th Motorized Corps!"
Colonel Krebs frowned: "General, if we use the 46th Motorized Corps to surround the enemy who broke into the defense line, what will we use to counterattack?"
The 46th Motorized Corps is the main force of the German 9th Army, and almost all tanks are concentrated in this motorized corps.
Model's strategy was to use offense to contain the enemy's attack, so everyone thought that Model would place the main force on the flanks of the 9th Army to block the gap and counterattack.
"I see!" Model said: "You think I will break out with armored troops!"
Model laughed: "This is a very interesting idea. You know that we are short of fuel and it is very difficult for tanks to drive in this weather, but you want to put them in the direction of attack? In this case, it is just a matter of supply.
It will be too much for us to handle!”
The officers couldn't help but look embarrassed when they heard this.
What Model said is indeed true. It is useless to use tanks in the attack at this time. What's more, the Russians still take the initiative in the air, and using tanks to fight is almost courting death.
On the contrary, it will be very comfortable if the tanks are allowed to surround and suppress the enemy within their own defense lines, because then they do not have to worry about supply and maintenance issues, and they can also be covered by air defense forces and the air force.
Obviously, with this arrangement, the armored forces can play a great role.
"We can even use the railways!" Model said: "Our armored forces operate along the railways to protect the railway lines, and then we can come up with some mobile firepower, such as armored trains!"
"But we don't have armored trains, General!" Colonel Krebs replied.
The German army did capture some armored trains before and even put them into the battlefield, but they were usually assigned to engineers or commandos to deal with guerrillas.
"I know!" Model replied: "I'm just saying that for example... we can install the 88mm anti-aircraft gun and anti-tank on the flatbed carriage and use it to provide anti-tank firepower for our armored forces!"
The officers couldn't help but nodded after hearing this.
The Russian army that broke into the German defense line was equipped with T34 tanks. This type of tank can only be dealt with by the 88mm anti-aircraft gun and the large-caliber anti-tank gun Pak40. These two pieces of equipment are very difficult to maneuver due to their weight and are in small numbers. If they can be maneuvered by train,
...That will undoubtedly add a lot of protection to the German army.
As a result, this "homemade" armored train was immediately "produced".
It only takes two hours to "produce" it.
Just use a locomotive to tow a few flatbed cars and freight cars, and then move the anti-aircraft guns and anti-tank guns up there... It deployed a total of two 88mm anti-aircraft guns, four pak40 anti-tank guns, four machine guns and two
20mm light anti-aircraft gun.
It carried a total of 40 soldiers and shuttled back and forth between Rzhev and Sychevka.
On the battlefield, sometimes mobility equals combat effectiveness.
For example, if these anti-aircraft guns and anti-tank guns were not installed on the train at this time, the total of two anti-aircraft guns and four anti-tank guns would be six anti-tank units, or maybe even less than six.
The reason is that it may not be able to arrive on the battlefield in time due to transportation problems, so it is equivalent to nothing for the campaign.
But if they are mounted on a train and moved quickly, they can appear now in Rzhev, now in Sychevka, and at any point along the railway line to strike at the enemy.
So their role is actually double, triple or even more that of anti-tank units.
"In this case!" Model pointed to the gap in the defense line and said: "If we can close the gap and get in touch with the 23rd Army, then a natural encirclement will be formed on the enemy's 9 divisions, and their supplies will be cut off.
, it’s only a matter of time before we are annihilated!”
"I agree with your point of view, General!" Colonel Krebs said: "But if that is the case, what will we use to launch a counterattack? I mean, our main force has been used to encircle and annihilate these nine divisions!"
"The 23rd Army!" Model replied: "And the 6th Army!"
"But... they are surrounded or semi-surrounded!" Colonel Krebs said: "It is very difficult to defend and they have almost no ability to counterattack!"
"And they are infantry!" Another officer continued: "They only have a small number of motor vehicles and tanks, so it is difficult for them to form a powerful blow to the enemy!"
"Guys!" Model said: "We should think like the enemy...Why does the enemy march faster than us?"
“They have a ski troop!”
"anything else?"
"They use horse-drawn sleighs!"
Model nodded and replied: "Yes, horse-drawn sleighs, why can't we do the same? You seem to have forgotten that we are in the Soviet Union, and the people here have many horse-drawn sleighs, and they are also good drivers!
"
The German officers couldn't help but look at each other. They were only thinking about cars, tanks, and airplanes, but they didn't expect that horse-drawn sleds might be more useful than them in this winter.